Nothing Beats Being a Ninja
by Desi The Moon Bear
Summary: Ito Naozumi, a completely normal twelve-year-old girl. With a pregnant mother, a father, and an older brother that's away. But, there IS something different about this girl. She's a ninja! And, y'know, nothing beats that. "It is what it is." Say the Nindo
1. Assorted Kiddies

"Wake up, Ito!"

"Mmm...no."

I pulled my heavy sky blue covers over my head, blocking out the bright sun. I could practically feel the glare from my new forehead protector attacking my head from above the protective barrier of my blankets. The rays of the sun were hot; even I could feel that. My curtains weren't doing anything to keep the yucky sunlight out. You could probably see the veil of dust on my vanity by how bright the sun was. I heard my mom coming up the stairs, and I instantly felt bad. I didn't want to be the reason a pregnant woman had to hike up two flights of stairs. I was such a horrible daughter...not really.

"Ito, honey, come on! I made your favorite breakfast! Hurry and get up before it gets cold!"

I smiled underneath my blankets, and then tossed them back, uncovering my eyes to the harsh light. They moistened almost immediately, and tears ran down my cheeks. That light made you want to slap your mother. I stretched, and took a look at my room. A fake plant in the corner to the right of the door, an oak shelf filled with books and manuals and study material, my oak vanity with some cosmetics on it, my small bed with the earphones laced on the headboard, and the blue carpet. It was a perfect room for me. Basic, yet beautiful.

I picked up my clothes off of the floor, and closely examined them. My green sweater was alright. So was the black shirt underneath it. My pants were a little wrinkled, but that never hurt me before. I was ready to go. I put on my red pair of unmentionables, tossed on my clothing, and then walked over to my vanity. I stared at myself in the mirror, and smiled. My eyes were kind of dewy today.

I sat down on the stool of my vanity, and picked up my brush. I loved it, since it was handcarved and had my name on the handle. That way, my little brother can't steal it when he's born into this world. I brushed my hair so that it didn't look so matted this morning. I put some gloss onto my lips, and then I decided to leave my room for the duration of the day.

Downstairs, my mom was finishing up an omelet. She was rubbing her stomach as well; she was coming along swimmingly. I peered into the dining room, and saw two more figures chomping down on fluffy eggs. Hijime looked to me, and Enma was still sipping some orange juice. My mouth dropped open, and I glared in mom's direction. I was sure she could feel the hate on her back.

"They just wouldn't go away, honey."

I blew outwards, letting my mom know that it wasn't a very likely story. She had been trying to get me to be Hijime's girlfriend again for a year now since I dumped him. Hijime and I were doing fine as friends, but things always got awkward when my mom came into the room, holding a plate of cookies that looked like hearts. The cookies would even have pink crystal sugar on the top! It was always gag-inducing.

In the mornings, it's never different. She set my chair right next to Hijime's. She loves Hijime; with him and his mannerisms. Also, he has a suave attitude, like he was born with it. She also loves his sense of humor. I stepped into the dining room, and sat beside Hijime, the sleeve of my sweater falling off of my shoulder. He was wearing a sweat jacket that was blue on the sleeves and black at the torso, with lots of decorations on it. His pants fell just below his knee, and were black. I had to admit, even as his ex, I thought he was very good looking. Enma was wearing the same thing, just with the sleeves in a gray color.

"Good morning, Ito! We've been waiting for you for a half-hour! You sleep too much!" Hijime poked my cheek with his chopsticks, and then took another bite of the omelet in front of him.

"Too much sleep can be harmful more than helpful, Ito." Enma said in a matter-of-fact tone, standing up. "We're almost late, so let's get going."

"What? Really; already? Ah, we do get to meet our sensei today, so it'll be exciting!"

I nodded, and stuffed my omelet in my mouth, walking with Hijime and Enma out of the door. We all had our headbands on our waists, acting as belts. I walked slightly in front of Hijime and Enma, just because I was the only girl so far. Hijime himself said that I needed to be revered. Either that or the kunai'll hit me first while Hijime runs with Enma.

"So, are you excited, Ito? We're finally Genin!" Hijime seemed to be the most excited out of all of us. Enma and I were just…quiet.

"Sure, let's say that…" I sighed, and tried to get the taste of omelet out of my mouth. I liked eggs, but not the aftertaste. Gag me. "Do you think it'll be a girl?"

"What, the baby?" Enma looked up to me curiously, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Enma, the baby. The male baby is going to be a girl; no not the baby! I'm talking about our sensei!"

"Ooh. It should be a guy, like Hijime and I."

"And why is that?"

"Because, we can't have too many girls. It creates a hormonal imbalance, and we'd have to gang rape you in the forest like on those hentai shows Hijime watc—!"

I looked to Hijime, and noticed that the boy in question had covered his younger brother's mouth. He was grinning awkwardly, which led me to believe that Hijime did watch porn while I wasn't watching him. What; did every boy need a leash these days?

* * *

The three of us were a bit late getting to the academy, but we melded into the classroom like we had been there all morning. I took a seat next to Sakura, squishing her against Naruto a little bit. Hijime had sat next to Hinata, and Enma had sat next to Choji, looking like a tiny midget. Iruka was standing in the front of the classroom, reading off teams. I suppose he noticed we were late, because the next words that came out let us know we were caught.

"Now, to backtrack because _some _people came in late, let me read off Squad Thirteen. Alright, Hijime Akayama, Enma Akayama, and Ito Naozumi."

Of course we were going to be in the same squad. We couldn't be with anyone but ourselves. Or else it would never be the same. Hijime and I cast glances to each other, seeming like love-sick lovebirds for about a second. Enma looked back to his brother, and grinned. I could tell everyone was excited. Sakura was smiling towards me, completely ignoring her new teammates as of now. I didn't know who they were, though. Naruto caught my eye once, and I just turned away from him. It's not that I didn't like the kid, just his attitude repulsed me. Sakura seemed to notice, and turned to Naruto. But he had already turned away.

"So, are you happy to be on a team with your ex, Ito?" I looked to Sakura, just staring at her. I was thinking more about the plot of "The Lonely Kitten". At this point in the story, the Lonely Kitten was alone in a wet box. He was staring out at the world, and wondering why the hell nobody loved him. "Ito!"

"…what? Oh, uhm, yeah, I got to chapter six."

"That's not what I asked! Ugh, I'll ask you later; I'm going to look for Sasuke. I'm on a squad with him, you know!"

"Congrats; you've won the grand prize."

Sakura just scoffed, placing a small smile on her face as she stepped out of the classroom. As soon as the classroom had cleared out, Hijime hopped over the desks, grabbed my shoulders, and briefly kissed my forehead. I grinned, and Enma came up to me as well, wrapping his arms around me. We all cuddled together in the room, near the desks, sighing out a compressed groan of relief. We were glad we were going to be together, in the same squad, hopefully with a teacher we would love. Hijime carefully wedged himself in between Enma and I, wrapping his arms around each of us.

"Well, looks like we're all going to be together."

"Like always; I deal with you enough at home, idiot." Enma retorted playfully.

"Heh, you know you love me. Hey, Ito…you have that spacey look in your eyes again."

I supposed I did. I was thinking about more than the development of "The Lonely Kitten". I was thinking about mom and how she was coming along. I was thinking of what Akira was doing in mom's womb. I was wondering, too, how my life as a shinobi would develop. On a squad with my ex-boyfriend and his little brother…ah, what a complicated stage.


	2. Naga Isn't That a Snake?

A/N: This chapter was FAIL CHAPTER. I'm really sorry, for any readers. Even readers in Singapore! I'm so sorry, Singapore! *Sob*

It'll get better; I promise! I swear it!

* * *

The morning passed with all squads being introduced to their sensei before us. My mind was racing with ideas for "The Lonely Kitten", and I had taken a pen off of a nearby desk, writing these ideas on my arms and my legs and my sweater sleeves. It was bad to waste all of these ideas by just thinking about them, and not scribbling them down. You _had _to write them down, too, or else it would all just be a waste of time to think about them. Hijime and Enma were used to my outburst, so they were just playing rock-paper-scissors while I finished writing my thoughts.

While I was writing, I had gone really deep into my mind. I had gone back to remember when my father was filling out the citizenship forms to get into Konoha. As I saw the pen make long, sweeping black marks over my skin, I remembered it making these same aesthetics marks on the white paper, the paper thin so that you could see the ink bleed through it.

"Well, this one is a strange little marmoset, isn't she?"

I looked up, and noticed that I had my left leg hitched behind my head, writing on the back of my calf. Hijime and Enma were staring at our sensei, who was certainly a bit strange-looking. He looked just as young as we did, and just as short. He was about Hijime's height, five foot three, with white hair that stood upwards, and two long pieces that fell over his shoulders. For a jounin, he was very young-looking. And he used strange words.

"Uhm…what's a marmoset?"

A small puff of smoke enveloped our sensei's finger, and he thrust it towards us. A small brown monkey was hanging onto it, a tiny red bandana tied around its neck.

"This is a marmoset. Tiny little monkey, not much bigger than your finger, right?"

"Uh, okay…" Hijime turned to me, and I stared at him with a blank, bored expression. "You're covered in ink.

"Alright, let's head out, kids."

"Who're you calling the kid, kid?" Hijime muttered, filing out after our short teacher. Enma and I exchanged glances, and then followed behind the two, leaving the rest of the class behind…or, what was left of it. Which was just us to begin with.

* * *

"Oh, Kakashi. I suppose I caught the roof late, then?"

Hijime sat next to Naruto, and Enma sat on the other side of Naruto. I sat next to Sakura, and hugged my marked knees up to my chest, reading what I had written. It was all unorganized and confusing, so I had no idea what to write first when I went home. It would all smooth itself out when I took my shirt off. Too bad I couldn't take off my skin. I would have to shower right after I wrote the chapter. Our sensei sat next to another man with silver hair and a dull gleam in his eye. We were all leaning forward, anticipating the best…or the worst.

"Well, my name is Nagasaki Chara. You can all just call me Chara-Sensei, or Naga. I'm only eighteen, so I want you guys to be as familiar with me as possible."

Hijime, Enma, and I exchanged glances again, all coming to one simple conclusion. Our sensei was strange. What higher-ranking shinobi would want his students to call him by his first name, a nickname, no doubt? We stared forward again, and then looked to the other man, who Naga had called "Kakashi". Kakashi nodded to us, and then to his students. Hey, Sakura was on this squad!

"Sakura!" I waved to her, and she smiled, staring at my marked arm.

"Naga, you can have your kids introduce themselves first."

Naga nodded, and turned towards us. "Alright, just tell me your names, and what you like."

Hijime stood up, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "My name is Hijime Akayama. I like spicy stuff." Then he sat back down, just like that.

"You're just a bucket of information. Next, you, little midget."

Enma stood up, and smoothed his spiky hair out of his face. To no avail, because it just settled right back in place. "My name is Enma Akayama. I like sweets."

"Ito Naozumi. I like kittens."

Naga nodded to us, and then moved his hands in an upwards motion. I looked to Hijime, and he stood up unsurely. I stood up after him, and the Enma was the last of us three to get up. "Ah, they can pay attention. Now, let's go, you guys!"

"Huh? Sensei, why are we leaving so soon?"

"Oh? I'm going to meet your parents!"

. . .

"WHAT?"


End file.
